


Catnapping

by fallenhurricane



Series: TSC Challenge [3]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Cat!Magnus, HOTI!alec, High Warlock of Brooklyn Magnus Bane, M/M, Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood First Meet, Mundane Simon Lewis, idk what the timeline here is okay just... go with it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:07:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25169677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallenhurricane/pseuds/fallenhurricane
Summary: “You brought a cat into the Institute?!”Honestly, if Magnus really were a cat he would be a little offended by the man’s tone, but it’s probably better than what he’d sound like if he were to know the truth. That this little cat is actually a centuries old warlock. It’s a hard knock life indeed.“Alec, c’mon,” Clary said, setting Magnus down on Alec’s desk. Magnus can’t resist the urge - he stretches, claws extending over the glossy wood, his tail flicking through the air. “He’s so cute and he was just walking through Brooklyn.”Yes. He was. Because that’s where he lives. Magnus meows loudly. Alec squints at him, and Izzy and Clary coo. Jace just sighs. God, not being able to speak is horrendous.Or: Magnus accidentally turns himself into a cat and gets trapped at the Institute.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: TSC Challenge [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1813834
Comments: 16
Kudos: 309





	Catnapping

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pinstripedJackalope](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinstripedJackalope/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Of Fate, Fiascos, and Flawless Eyeliner](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25142374) by [pinstripedJackalope](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinstripedJackalope/pseuds/pinstripedJackalope). 



> Challenge round 3 with @pinstripedJackalope! 
> 
> As always, go check out the fic they've posted!
> 
> This one is their fault because I was going to go another direction but then I sent them a picture of my cat being a dork and they thought it was a fic hint.... and so here we are.
> 
> (Also, I stole the -kidnapping- thing from their last fic!)

Magnus is being  _ manhandled.  _

Or, well… cat-handled? 

Regardless, he is being  _ kidnapped _ . 

For fuck’s sake, he’s been stuck in feline form for three hours and already this is happening? He was just trying to make his way to Catarina’s brownstone so he could meow loudly at her door until she or Madzie opened it, and then Catarina would know that it was Magnus and one of his spells had gone terribly wrong. (She really was his hero.) But it doesn’t even matter now. Because now he’s being swept up in the arms of some girl with long red hair who looks vaguely familiar and into a big, stinky van - curse this sensitive cat nose - with some bespectacled boy and fuck it all to hell, honestly. He’s going to be stuck as a cat forever. He might as well get used to Fancy Feast and licking his privates. Except, no. Magnus shivers as the girl settles him on her lap in the passenger seat, banishing the thought from his head. He’d never stoop so low. 

The road rumbles beneath the van as the boy in the driver’s seat twists and turns through the city. The redhead coos and runs her fingers through Magnus’s dark fur. He grumbles under his breath, and rolls his eyes when she says, “Simon, I think he just purred!” He most certainly did not. 

After a bit - where in the world have they taken him, Jersey? - the van grinds to a stop. The boy, Simon, apparently, jumps out and the girl follows behind him, wrapping Magnus tight in her arms even as he wriggles to break free. He really must be exhausted, he thinks, if he can’t even use his feline flexibility to slip out of her grip. He’s so busy trying to weasel his way to the sidewalk that he doesn’t realize that the building they’re walking into is coated heavily in glamours. 

“What the hell is that?” a voice says as soon as the heavy door swings behind them. A blonde boy in a leather jacket stalks towards them, and Magnus tenses. The girl moves her fingers in circles on his shoulders and it might be nice if Magnus hadn’t noticed that the blonde boy was covered in runes and  _ fuck _ , is he in the Shadowhunters Institute?!

“A cat, obviously,” Simon says. 

“Shut up,” the blonde replies. His gaze never leaves Magnus and the girl and as he approaches, a hand held out, Magnus lets out a hiss. The boy retracts his hand quickly, eyes widening.

“Uh, Jace, I don’t think he likes you,” the girl says. She readjusts her grip and turns Magnus to look at her and  _ shit  _ now he’s noticing her runes too and honestly how had he not seen them before? This is bad. This is worse than bad. This is… this is a disaster waiting to happen. He has to get out of here. Shadowhunters  _ hate  _ warlocks, let alone the High Warlock of Brooklyn, especially when they enter their Institute uninvited.

Jace crosses his arms, scowling. “Well, he better like Alec. You, Izzy, and I have been assigned a mission; put him in Alec’s office.”

Simon coughs. “What about-” 

“You, mundane,” Jace says, “are going home.”

Simon sighs but says, “See you, Clary,” as he gives the girl a quick side hug and pushes out the door. As Clary follows Jace down the hall, Magnus peeks over her arm, looking for an escape route. There are Nephilim  _ everywhere _ . Some standing in front of screens, some polishing swords, some training with wooden staffs. Each open door reveals more of them. If he were in his warlock form, they would hardly stand a chance, though fighting his way out would break several treaties, but as a cat? He’s screwed.

Jace knocks and then quickly opens a thick wooden door (before Magnus even hears so much as  _ Come in,  _ which like, rude), and Clary quickly follows. Inside a tall, lean man with a shock of dark hair and a shorter woman who is undeniably related to him stand on either side of a large wooden desk. Their eyes scan over Jace and Clary before they spot Magnus.

“Oh my god, where did you find him?!”

“You brought a cat into the Institute?!”

Honestly, if Magnus really were a cat he would be a little offended by the man’s tone, but it’s probably better than what he’d sound like if he were to know the truth. That this little cat is actually a centuries old warlock. It’s a hard knock life indeed. 

“Alec, c’mon,” Clary said, setting Magnus down on Alec’s desk. Magnus can’t resist the urge - he stretches, claws extending over the glossy wood, his tail flicking through the air. “He’s so cute and he was just walking through Brooklyn.” 

Yes. He was. Because that’s where he  _ lives.  _ Magnus meows loudly. Alec squints at him, and Izzy and Clary coo. Jace just sighs. God, not being able to speak is horrendous.

“Just let him stay here while we’re on our mission?”

Alec stares at Clary. Magnus stares at Alec. He doubts that Alec will pay him a lot of attention if he lets Clary leave him here and then maybe he can, like… jump out a window. He’s a cat, he always lands on his feet, right?

The dark-haired girl reaches across the desk and gently slaps Alec’s arm, and his shoulders drop. “Fine,” he says, glancing at her. “But if he pees on the carpet, you’re cleaning it up.” He points at Clary. 

Magnus nearly hisses again. Peeing on a  _ carpet _ . Please. Who do they think he is?

Oh. Right.

A cat.

Clary, Jace, and the other girl make their way out of the office, closing the door behind them. Magnus’s ears flatten back against his skull - he doesn’t have opposable thumbs and he weighs 9 pounds, he can’t open the door himself, they were supposed to leave it open. Today’s just going  _ brilliantly _ . 

Alec circles the desk, his eyes never leaving Magnus. Magnus would cower if he weren’t secretly, you know, Magnus. Still, the Shadowhunter has a looming presence - he has piercing hazel eyes and subtle stubble covering his jaw and his biceps are huge. He crosses his arms and shifts and Magnus sees a white bandage peeking out from under the collar of his navy button up. 

“What?” Alec says when Magnus squints at it. There’s the dark rust-colored stain of blood on the edges of the gauze. “This? Eidolon demon hit me and I got a bit of ichor poisoning. It’s healing, just slowly.” He rubs his hand lightly over the gauze and Magnus notices thin scars and cuts patterning the space between his thumb and his forefinger. “It’s why I’m not out on the mission,” Alec continues, sighing. He makes his way over to a sofa and falls back onto it, letting his head fall back. He looks exhausted. Magnus almost feels bad.  _ Almost _ . He’d feel worse if so many of his kind hadn’t fallen to Shadowhunters in the past.

Magnus looks around the room. It’s dark and not nearly as tastefully decorated as his loft (where are the paintings? The sculptures? Any kind of character at all?) but there are large shelves of books, a marble fireplace, and a large pair of french doors leading out to a patio. A patio that would be perfect to escape from, if he can get Alec to open the door. 

Goal in mind, he hops off the desk and prances over to the glass doors, pawing at them. Alec raises his head. “I can’t let you out, Clary would kill me,” he says. Magnus puts on his best puppy dog - or, kitty cat, he supposes - eyes, pawing at the door again. “No, buddy, c’mon.” Alec pats the couch cushion next to him. “Come sit, help me go through some paperwork.” 

If Magnus can’t cute his way out of this, he’ll have to be a menace. He spies the folder on the coffee table half a second before Alec reaches for it and pounces, landing on it and skidding across the wooden table before landing in a heap on the floor. The papers scatter. Magnus cackles, though it comes out as more of a hacking cough. He sounds like he’s about to throw up a hairball, which is less than ideal, but he must admit, that was fun. Alec giggles behind him, getting off the sofa and kneeling on the carpet to pick up the papers. “You’re pretty cute, huh?” he says softly, reaching a hand out to gently run over Magnus’s back. Magnus stares at him. “You have really cool eyes. They’re so bright.”

Fuck, this isn’t working. 

Magnus tries. He really does. He climbs the bookshelves. He sits in the unlit fireplace. He scratches the glass panes of the door, he rolls around on the sofa, he rips up paperwork with his claws, he knocks over a lamp, and he walks all over Alec’s tablet as he tries to do some kind of research on vampire dens. He climbs onto Alec’s shoulder and noses at his ear, swats his floofy hair. None of it works. He comes  _ thisclose _ to actually just peeing on the carpet. He’s losing his decorum, one  _ “Aw, buddy, it’s okay” _ and cute Shadowhunter giggle at a time. 

Soon, night has fallen. Alec’s showing no sign of letting up on work, Clary and the others are showing no sign of returning, and it’s starting to look like Magnus might really, actually, be stuck here forever. He’s sitting at the edge of the desk as Alec flips through some paperwork and compares it to notes on his tablet when he hears it.

“This would be so much easier if we could get hold of a warlock,” Alec whispers, and Magnus’s ears perk up.

He meows.

“What’s up, buddy?” Alec says, running his fingers behind Magnus’s ears. He allows himself to lean into the touch, briefly, before meowing again. Alec frowns. God, this is frustrating. 

Magnus looks around the room again, before his eyes settle on the tablet in between him and Alec. Oh. Duh. He hadn’t thought of it because he had been so focused on escaping but now that Alec actually  _ wants  _ a warlock, well…

He stands up and paws it away from the Nephilim, and when Alec reaches his hand out to pull it back, he swats at him, claws retracted. Alec shrugs and Magnus swipes carefully with the tip of his paw to pull up the notepad app. He tries to type but his paws just make keysmashes and incoherent words. He growls. 

“Buddy-” Alec starts, but when Magnus turns and hisses at him, he quiets, and Magnus turns back to the tablet, lowering his nose to the touch screen. He’s already lost his dignity, why bother trying to hold onto any hint of it any longer. 

Very slowly he taps out,  _ I’m a warlock.  _ He nudges the tablet back to Alec.

He sees Alec’s eyes scan the words. And then scan them again. And again. And then he looks at Magnus, his mouth agape. “You’re… you’re a warlock?”

Magnus meows.

“Are you stuck like this?”

Magnus meows again, dipping his head in a nod.

“What… what do we do?”

Magnus meets Alec’s eyes and approaches the tablet again. Alec gestures towards it, giving him space to tap out another line.  _ Call Catarina Loss. _

****

Magnus isn’t exactly sure how Alec ends up getting ahold of Catarina, since he knows that his friend loathes and fears Shadowhunters at least as much as he does. But somehow Alec does, and Catarina arrives nonetheless. And really, Magnus should’ve expected Catarina to arrive just the way she does. Alec leaves him in the office to greet her at the Institute’s front door, and as soon as he leads her back into the room, she takes one look at him and says, “Really, Magnus, again?” 

And honestly, he doesn’t deserve that. He’s never turned himself into a cat before! An aye-aye, yes. A skunk, maybe. A chipmunk, sure. But a cat’s new for him!

As the door shuts behind them, Alec blinks at her. “Magnus. Magnus Bane? The High Warlock of Brooklyn?” 

Magnus meows as Catarina says, “Yes. He has a tendency to let his spells run amok.”

Magnus swears he’s going to refuse to make Catarina her favorite margaritas for at least a month. 

Alec’s face is reddening where he stands by the door, rubbing his neck. “R-right.” 

Magnus cocks his head, squinting at Alec. He can’t parse out what’s bothering the Nephilim - unless he  _ is  _ bothered by the fact that Magnus is a warlock, but he hadn’t seemed too embarrassed just twenty minutes ago when Magnus had first told him - but then Catarina is picking him up and placing him on the floor and muttering a spell quietly. 

“ _ Ce sorcier a fait une erreur idiote s'il vous plaît corriger les erreurs et son mal de ventre le ramène à l'homme du chat qu'il ne sera plus jamais félin.” _

And then…. He’s human again. 

And he’s naked. 

Magnus chuckles to cover his embarrassment, and snaps his fingers, dressing himself quickly in a fairly tasteful outfit and his typical eyeliner. Catarina just rolls her eyes at him as he nods in thanks. He looks at Alec and…

...the Nephilim’s face is pretty much on fire.

Catarina excuses herself, telling Magnus she’ll wait outside, and Magnus walks toward Alec, who is staring resolutely at the floor. 

“Well,” Magnus says, clearing his throat. Alec glances up. “I believe you said something would be helped by having a warlock? Besides healing that nasty wound you have, of course.”

Alec’s jaw drops open, and his hand flies to his bandage. “I can’t - I can’t ask you to help with this, M- Mr. Bane,” he says, sputtering. “Or my… wound.” He edges around Magnus, back to his side of the desk. 

Magnus frowns. “It’s Magnus. And why not?”

“Are you joking?” Alec stares at him. Magnus just raises his eyebrows, a silent question, an invitation to carry on. “I called you buddy. I said you were cute. I scratched you behind the ears.” He groans and runs a hand over his face. “I thought you were going to piss on the  _ carpet _ .”

Magnus smirks, twirling a ring around his middle finger. “Yes, you did have rather little faith in me.” Alec groans again. “To be fair, Alexander, you had no way of knowing I wasn’t just an adorable little cat.”

Alec grimaces. “But you’re the High Warlock.”

“Yes,” Magnus says easily. There’s no point in denying it, and honestly, given that Alec seems to be the acting head of the Institute he’s surprised they haven’t met before.

“And I-”

“Alexander,” Magnus says, cutting him off. He reaches across the desk as Alec’s sister had done hours ago, but instead of slapping Alec, he grips his arm gently. “I climbed your bookshelves. I scratched your windows. I tore up your work. I nuzzled your  _ ear _ . I think we’re on more than even footing when it comes to acting in embarrassing ways.” 

Alec doesn’t look totally convinced, but when he looks up, he meets Magnus’s gaze and gives him a lopsided smile.

“Now,” Magnus continues, smiling back, “you’ve helped me; how can I help you?”


End file.
